"Isn't it Ironic"

and unlike Ms. Morrisette's 1996 song, this does fit the definition:

At last nights "Troop Appreciation Night" at the Senators hockey game, an enthusiastic supporter was waving around an extremely over sized cardboard or plastic "Support Our Troops" yellow ribbon which in her excitement she did not notice was hitting one of the uniformed servicemen sitting two seats away from her in the head on every swing to her left (the symbolism of that I'll leave for you to dwell on).

And to make matters worse, as the crowd began to laugh and cheer she began to wave it more franticly forcing the soldier to have to cover his head with his hands but all the while smiling and being a good sport about it.

Making friend in all the wrong places

Looks like John Kerry has finally found a group of people that like him and hang on his every word; too bad their on the wrong continent.

Of course the standard "he was taken out of context" excuses were flying from the usual suspects as soon as the speech was made but honestly, if in every speech you make you do your hardest to point to America as the problem with the world there is really no context to put your words into to make the OK.

And then there's Joe Biden trying to jump the gun to try and claim failure of President Bush's new surge policy even before the first troops arrive. The only problem, according to at least one senior Iraqi official just the word that the surge is coming has caused several key jihadist leaders to flee to Iran. But I'm sure Joe and John won't let that stop them in their attempt to paint the Iraq war as a lost cause.

I might be able to muster up at least a little respect for the Democrats if they could come up with at least one coherent policy for dealing with the Middle East besides their usual pie-in-the-sky "let's just talk it over with them" ideas. Right now far too many are attacking without offering any real alternatives and those that don't follow the party line, like Lieberman, are quickly tossed aside.

Happy First anniversary

So the Conservatives have passed their one year mark in power and brimstone has not yet fallen from the skies and the apocalypse has not yet taken place; so much for all those Liberal predictions. And what do you know, homosexuals still haven't been rounded up and sent to re-education camps, so things aren't looking good for the NDP prognosticators either.

For the last 365 days we've had a government that's actually lived up to several of their campaign promises (a rarity in national Canadian politics) and have been working to make some of their other promises a reality. There have been some screw-ups, such as the "Quebec nation" thing which can still go either way, but all in all, Canadians have gotten to see a government run on principle and not whatever the latest polls suggest would get them the most votes. Still, and for reasons I will never understand, the Conservatives are neck in neck with the Liberals in most polls when people are questioned about upcoming elections. It's like we have 30% of the country suffering from 'battered wife syndrome' always saying to themselves "they'll be different in the future; they promised".

I can at least respect a person for voting NDP or Green or even Communist if that's the way their particular ideology dictates and in past elections I've urged friends to do so, even going so far as to help them review the various party platforms to determine which matches their particular world view. I may consider them fringe groups made up of pie in the sky dreamers with no concept of reality but at least they are dedicated to their fantasies and unlikely to change their core beliefs at politically opportunistic times (not to say it hasn't happened in the past, just it's not an every day occurrence). The Liberals on the other hand seem to have no ideology except to that they deserve to rule Canada and that they're not the Conservatives.

In the past 12 years almost every program they finally managed to pass was stolen from one of the other major parties platforms as soon as they saw it had any popular support; their own campaign promises drifting down the memory hole as fast as the confetti could be cleared from the campaign night celebrations. That's why it was so funny to read in the paper today about newly elected Liberal leader, Stephane Dion, suggesting the Conservatives were stealing old Grit programs to call their own. What Dion may not realize is that even if that were true it would imply that the Tories, with a minority government, are willing to institute a program they believe has merit, regardless of it's origins, that the previous successive Grit governments, which were generally overwhelming majorities, would not. Acknowledging your parties ineptitude is not exactly the best position to attack from.

But lets not leave poor Jack Layton out of this. His recent comments at the University of Montreal actually gave me more of a chuckle than today's Duplex. Speaking about Canada's continued effort in Afghanistan he essentially laid out the NDP plan of attack against Jihadist bent on destroying Western civilization; let's just talk to them. I simply amazes me how humanists like Layton and the NDP as a whole can spend all their time protesting what they perceive to be even the slightest discriminatory action to any of their protected groups (when most of the things they are protesting for are in fact special rights for these groups) and then in the same breath condemn conservatives from taking actions to bring even the most fundamental rights to these same groups in other countries. It's a disconnect that I'm simply incapable of understanding.

Anyway, happy anniversary Prime Minister Harper and here's hoping to many more.

"Why I Joined"

Powerful words from a fallen hero.

Thanks to Michelle for the link.

In the Navy

The latest US Navy recruitment ad NOT coming to a TV near you by way of HotAir.

"The First Rule of 'Primary Wars'"

"is there is no Primary War.

The second rule, no story, comments or facts emanating from a right winged source are acceptable. Only those sources that have been approved by dear leader may be used.

Only through strict enforcemtn of these rules and tight control on all information sources may we prevent our progressive site from becoming a echo chamber."

Ok so that's not exactly what the Kos Kid said but it's pretty much the gist of his message.

Trying to ignore facts based solely on their source, with no attempt to even try and debunk the claims, is not new to the extreme left of the blogosphere. They'll even go so far as to try and dismiss it if it is even talked about on a conservative site.

You are my Sunshine

Is there really any point in continuing with the Sunshine girl page in the Ottawa Sun after Sundays offering? Where can you go after you've already reached perfection?

Since the link is fixed to the Sunday page and will change every week I present to you, Stephanie:

More on Jimmah

If you were ever in need of a real world example of a 'useful idiot' Jimmy's your man. And just to make sure his spread of intellectual poison and destruction isn't limited to just the Western hemisphere here's a link to Memri TV capture of Jimmy Carter's interview on Al Jazerra TV by way of LGF (transcript available here). Notice his, "just because they elect known terrorists who stated goal is the destruction of their neighbor is no reason to limit financial aid" argument.

And just in case you don't catch his bending over backwards to excuse the Palestinians launching missiles into Israel here's a HotAir post with video of the Hannity and Colmes interview of one of the former board members of the Carter Center. He draws specific attention to pg. 213 of Carter's book which, if anything, goes even further in excusing Palestinian attacks on civilian Israelis.

Oh Jimmah

First came news of former Carter Center Executive Director, and current Fellow, Ken Stein's resignation (his actual letter can be found here) and now reports are coming forward that an additional 14 board members of the Center have handed in their resignation all because of their beliefs that President Carter has crossed the line into a world of "malicious advocacy" with his latest book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.

Even professors being invited to work with the Center are starting to turn down the offers out of disgust.

All this due to a book that's been so highly criticized by Middle East experts and book reviewers alike that if it weren't for the authors personal background it wouldn't even have passed muster if handed in for a high school paper.

LGF has more including news that Carter has finally agreed to speak at Brandeis University. Of course that was only after they changed the format from a debate with Alan Dershowitz to a simple Q&A. Apparently Mr. Carter didn't think a well respected Harvard Law Professor who also happens to have written 3 books on the Middle East, it's history and it's politics, was educated enough to hold a productive debate with.

Last one out don't forget to turn off the lights.

Canada 4, Russia 2

Canada takes the World Junior title for the third year straight.

Congrats!

I was stuck at work with no live feed available (streaming video is blocked) but I was able to follow the action on various hockey forums and the TSN site. It was pretty quite all afternoon as a lot of people suddenly remembered 'family emergencies' that required their immediate attention some time around noon.

Serving Two Masters

Last year, in a nearly unprecedented move, PM Harper asked Liberal MP Wajid Khan to join his government as a special consultant on Middle Eastern issues. Mr. Khan's acceptance of the position did not require him to cross the floor or betray any of his Liberal beliefs, Harper simply asked him to perform an important job that his experience made him especially suited for recognizing that all MPs, irrespective of party, are elected to serve the people of Canada and to ignore a persons background simply because of the color of their lawn signs is a ridiculous way to run a government (a lesson more politicians from every party should learn).

Todays, thanks to new Liberal party leader Stéphane Dion, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's little experiment in bipartisanship has come to an end, but with a result that I'm sure he's happy with; Mr. Khan has officially crossed the floor and joined the Conservatives.

Now normally I'm not a big fan of floor crossings in between election cycles. I'm ok with an elected official leaving their party and sitting as an independent, but without a by election to get the approval of their riding I generally against them openly sitting with their former opposition. That being said this case is unique in that it was the Liberals themselves that apparently pressured Mr.Khan to choose sides. Calling it 'bizarre' that a Liberal would act as an adviser to the Conservative PM, reports indicate Mr. Dion pushed Mr. Khan to choose which side he was on and so he did.

I'd like to think that he chose Canada over blind party loyalty.

Our Deepest Sympathies

Earlier today MacDaddy was called into one of our managers offices for the grim task of receiving a condolence card with respect to the passing of his step father. I only met him a few times but he seemed like a really decent guy and a Mac and him were pretty close.

In true Mac style by the time he was back to our cubicle he was cracking jokes and was grinning from ear to ear. Some people might think that this was just some sort of reflex meant to hide the pain but those of us that truly know Mac, and truly understand the inner workings of his twisted mind know that the laughter was less of a defense mechanism and more due to the fact his step father died 6 years ago, which was right about the time we circulated the card for everyone to sign and make donations.

I guess we know at least one manager who doesn't take advantage of our once a year, Office Cleanup Day.